[taylortbb]

He/she is mistaken about one thing - tethering isn't free to all Canadian cosumers. Many of us have free tethering, but not all of us. I have 6gigs with Rogers and free tethering. My wife has 500 mb and no free tethering (my son has the same non-tethering package).

You are correct there, I forgot Rogers doesn't include tethering on the sub-1GB plans. I'm also on a 6GB/month plan. It's a $5/month upgrade though to go to a 1GB/month plan, and that's not really a tethering fee as you get all the extra data too (which you'll want if you're tethering).

So is this to say that we don't need a tethering app and that our carrier will not know the PB is tethering because it is going through the blue tooth connection to connect to the internet?

BlackBerrys already have built-in Bluetooth tethering. They even did 3 years ago. Carriers are able to differentiate tethered data done using the native tethering functionality, Bluetooth or wired.

[iN8ter]

I see this 3rd World 2G trope all the time on these boards.

There is a huuuge misunderdtanding of the demographics and infrastructure in these countries. What people like Howarmat don't understand is there is a huge wealthy segment in countries like Brazil, Chile, India, South Africa, China etc. Most people in those countries might be dirt poor, but there are millions who live lifestyles equal to, or better than the average American in terms of consumption. Discretionary spending of $500 would therefore be well within the means of countless millions in the 3rd world taken as a whole.

News at 10: China, India, Brazil, and South Africa are Third-World Coutries...

Is that a joke?

Also many emerging countries had 3G years before it was widely avalable in North America. Cellular adoption was actually faster and more advanced outside of North America - largely because those countries adopted wired broadband much later and texting surged while North Americans were still enamored with wired email.

Cellular adoption in many other countries (namely Europe and Asia) was faster than in North America.
Brazil, South Africa, etc. are Industrializing countries that are developing. They are not third-world.

Third world are underdeveloped countries Haiti, Somalia the the like. You can't put those countries in the same category as China, Brazil, Chile, and India... At least not without looking a bit foolish.

Some may consider N. Korea a Third World country with Nuclear capabilities.

RIM is very wise to target the emerging market. Android will be snapping at their heels. Apple will have a harder time for reasons unrelated to infrastructure. Simply put, iTunes is useless in many emerging markets because Apple hasn't bothered to get distibution rights for music and movies.

Finally, the BB experience is tailor-made for countries with a long history of using phones for text messaging. That BB keyboard really is RIM's killer app.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

No, it's not. There was a time when NA accounted for over 3/4 of RIM's sales, and the BB experience hasn't change since then, pretty much at all.

The only thing they did was realize that they could get away with selling cheap outdated 2G devices for decent margins in areas where other manufacturers wouldn't go due to cost/profit reasons and ran with it. Nokia does the same thing with their Feature Phones, and so do some other Manufacturers like Samsung.

Nothing about a blackberry is custom-tailored for emerging markets. They're basically the same phones that made RIM popular here 10+ years ago.

It's just that more countries are developing and people in those countries can actually afford devices - but they can't afford "expensive" devices, so Cheap Curves and Feature Phones are a hit there. They certainly can't afford expensive Data Hungry iOS/WP7/Android devices. Half of their yearly salaries would go towards data and probably data overages + SMS fees.

[quellerie]

News at 10: China, India, Brazil, and South Africa are Third-World Coutries...

Is that a joke?

Nope. The original defintion referred to First World as Europe, Second World to the old communist countries and Third World to the aforementioned countries sans China which would have been lumped into the second world according to olf definitions.

Cellular adoption in many other countries (namely Europe and Asia) was faster than in North America.
Brazil, South Africa, etc. are Industrializing countries that are developing. They are not third-world.

Again, the term term "third world" traditionally applied to Brazil, South Africa, etc. The term has falled out of fashion and we now speak of the Developing World, and even the Rapidly Developing world to refer to Brazil, etc.

Third world are underdeveloped countries Haiti, Somalia the the like. You can't put those countries in the same category as China, Brazil, Chile, and India... At least not without looking a bit foolish.

I apologize for looking foolish . Actually, according to the traditional definition, all those countries are third world. Third world is not synonomous with basketcase. That is a classic misunderstanding.
I sincerely doubt that RIM is seriously courting Haiti.But you never know! http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World?wasRedirected=true

My main point is that some people tend to be lumping Brazil in with Haiti when they speak of RIM's forays into emerging markets. I really just want people to know that the developing world isn't all 2G and dirt poor people. RIM may be dumping old stock on the Haiti's of the world, but much of their non-Europe/North American growth is coming from sophisticated consumers with advanced cellular infrastructure and $$$'s to spend.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[bud01234]

You are correct there, I forgot Rogers doesn't include tethering on the sub-1GB plans. I'm also on a 6GB/month plan. It's a $5/month upgrade though to go to a 1GB/month plan, and that's not really a tethering fee as you get all the extra data too (which you'll want if you're tethering).



BlackBerrys already have built-in Bluetooth tethering. They even did 3 years ago. Carriers are able to differentiate tethered data done using the native tethering functionality, Bluetooth or wired.

This is not what "Teather" (the company) is about. Their product uses bluetooth OR USB and does NOT trigger tethering fees from the carrier. I paid $49 for the software as a one time fee and got rid of my internet service at home which saves almost that much per month. My carrier does not limit my data to 5 mg or 5 gig... since all my 'tethering' is exactly the same as if i'm just surfing. My carrier does have their own tethering plan which uses BB desktop and they charge $40 per month for the priviledge of letting them tether. (gosh, let me think which way to go?)

I have heard that Verizon is attempting to set a 5mg limit on unlimited internet but don't see how they can call it unlimited data if they do.

I'm not an expert and don't work for tether inc., so you can go to tether dot com and check it out for yourself.

[jamdmyers]

The issue of tethering is one of what you cna stand in regard to performance.
One is the PB will bridge using Bluetooth, not a vey high bandwidth protocol and while sufficient for calendar/bbm/contacts true internet maybe very weak performance, why do I say this? I use Tether on my 9550 and laptop via USB and the performance is marginal, good for a pinch but that's it.
I don't have transfer data rats handy but know usb by far is faster the BT.

If bluetooth is the only 'bridge' to the playbook, (can we connect via usb?)
then tethering will be a minor factor (at least until vz had true LTE and I have a LTE BB, I'm not holding my breath). Until then I'll make my decisions on using the PB in a wifi only environment, that is unless they do come out with a LTE version from VZ (my current carrier, though I'm contemplating switching to ATT)

[Erandhawa]

The issue of tethering is one of what you cna stand in regard to performance.
One is the PB will bridge using Bluetooth, not a vey high bandwidth protocol and while sufficient for calendar/bbm/contacts true internet maybe very weak performance, why do I say this? I use Tether on my 9550 and laptop via USB and the performance is marginal, good for a pinch but that's it.
I don't have transfer data rats handy but know usb by far is faster the BT.

If bluetooth is the only 'bridge' to the playbook, (can we connect via usb?)
then tethering will be a minor factor (at least until vz had true LTE and I have a LTE BB, I'm not holding my breath). Until then I'll make my decisions on using the PB in a wifi only environment, that is unless they do come out with a LTE version from VZ (my current carrier, though I'm contemplating switching to ATT)

Thats odd bluetooth should be doing around 3mb/s:

Bluetooth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When I tether through bluetooth I don't notice any drastic speed drop. Maybe your bluetooth reciever in the laptop isn't 2.0? It may be worthing looking into I haven't experienced a drastic speed decrease by using bluetooth opposed to usb when i tether (agreed there is a slight difference in response time but not too much in speed). I am sure they will come out with a VZ LTE version if sprint is gettin a 4g it must be in verizons future as well.

[taylortbb]

This is not what "Teather" (the company) is about. Their product uses bluetooth OR USB and does NOT trigger tethering fees from the carrier. I paid $49 for the software as a one time fee and got rid of my internet service at home which saves almost that much per month.

I know exactly what app you're talking about, that's why I referred to the native tethering functionality. That app relies on its own proprietary method of tethering, one which RIM is obviously not going to support. RIM will support RIM's tethering mode, the native one. Tether (the company) may find a way to get their app working with the PlayBook, but that's hardly guaranteed. Don't expect that to work with PlayBook until Tether (the company) says so.